By Alan Adler of FreightWaves

Used truck auction prices dipped in April as freight demand softened, but the doubling in cost of acquiring low-mileage pre-owned equipment over the last year will take months to return to anything resembling normal.

And even with the peak crested, prices will be much higher than the historic gap between new and used Class 8 tractors, according to J.D. Power Valuation Services.

"Pricing is still extremely high by historical standards — particularly for the newest trucks available — but [auction] hammer prices for all trucks sold in April 2022 and early May 2022 were noticeably lower than earlier in the year," Power said in its latest Guidelines newsletter.